Swiss forwarder Panalpina remained stable in the first half of the year, in spite of airfreight volumes that decreased by 2 percent in the first six months of the year, and 5 percent in just the second quarter, year-over-year, while market demand grew by 1 to 2 percent.
Consolidated profit was US$46.8 million, up 3 percent from $45.5 million during the same period in 2014. Gross profit per tonne, however, decreased 3 percent to $747,500, which resulted in gross profit of $305 million. EBIT was up in ocean freight, but airfreight fell from $59.2 million in first-half 2014 to approximately $47.5 million for the first half of 2015. The company’s logistics arm reported EBIT of $1.55 million after a loss of $4.46 million in the same period last year.
“We succeeded in keeping profitability stable in the first six months of the year despite a soft air and ocean freight market,” said Peter Ulber, Panalpina’s CEO. “We are doing an increasingly better job of keeping our costs under control. Currency adjusted, profitability was higher than last year.”
Ulber said air freight was held back due to the drop in the energy and automotive sectors. “Despite the headwind in the energy sector, we are confident that we can recover lost ground in airfreight during the second half of the year.”